Greetings From Iran

Alternative X-Mas Message

Ahmadinejad Takes Aim At U.S.

There will be an alternative Christmas message on Britain's Channel 4 tonight, delivered by none other than Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "“If Christ was on Earth today undoubtedly he would stand with the people in opposition to bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers,” Mr. Ahmadinejad will say, in a holiday message aimed at the United States. The program has courted controversy before, most recently in 2006 when it aired a message from a British born Muslim woman attacking the government for their criticism of the traditional Muslim veil. A Channel 4 exec said the choice was made to give viewers a picture of how those outside the West feel. But not everyone feels he deserves a place in the public eye: the director of Britain's Holocaust Centre was troubled by Mr. Ahmadinejad's assertions that the Holocaust was a myth. "Many of his political and historical views are very dangerous and do not uphold the views in his message," he said. "I think this benign message is deception. People need to be alert to the fact that this is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”